A World With No Light
by momentsofmadness
Summary: When Spirits all over start disappearing, the Guardians believe that Pitch is up to no good again. But turns out this is bigger than anything Pitch would ever plan on doing, and it seems like the Guardians are faced with their greatest challenge yet. Having to work along side their former enemy to save not only the children this time, but the whole world.
1. Trouble Begins

**Hey everyone! Its been so long since I posted anything and this story has been in my email for like three months so I thought 'why not?' **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy it. I might take a while in updating. As always please leave your reviews on anything! Thanks and happy reading!**

Jack flew above empty streets, taking in how snowflakes lit up as they passed under the soft orange glow of the street lights. He looked up as he landed lightly on a roof, gold sand was swirling and flowing down, going from house to house delivering dreams to the sleeping children of Burgess.

he felt a sad smile tug on his lips, it had been a good day, filled with laughter from both him and the children, but that had changed quickly when he was reminded of just hows mall his group of believers still was. It was hard to pretend everything was a-ok when a young child walked right through him, completely unaware of his presence. Which was part of the reason he hasn't fully come to terms with being a Guardian, how was he supposed to protect children if most of them didn't even know he existed?

His attention was brought back to the present when a swirl of glittering sand rushed past his face, creating a beautiful effect as it mixed with the light snowfall. _It's so pretty_, he thought as he reached out to touch it. Golden sand figures popped to life, dolphins and birds raced around his him, _a strange combination and yet it works_. Jack chuckled softly to himself before turning around and jumping off the roof and into the air.

He flew a short distance before landing once again, this time on the roof of a five story apartment building, high enough to see most of the town, yet short enough to still have a clear view of the magic sand as it swirled through the air.

With one hand in his sweatshirt pocket and the other holding his staff upright, Jack stared out as fat, lazy snowflakes fell down towards the dimly lit town. The whole thing had a peaceful lulling affect, and he soon felt his eyelids growing heavier and knew that it was time to retreat back to the lake for the night.

A sudden racket in a nearby alley snapped Jack back to his senses, it sounded as if something was being tossed around. A loud wail broke the silence of the night. In a flash, Jack was in the air  
flying over to the ruckus, when he reached the alley there was- nothing?

Jack floated down and inspected the area. Garbage bins were knocked over and trash littered the floor, obvious signs of a struggle, but there was nothing else there. Jack stood rubbing the back of his head in confusion, a small piece of green cloth laying amongst the debris caught his eye. Picking it up, Jack realized it was glowing slightly, _mmmmhh_?. Jack was about to leave the alley when a shadow flashed past the corner of his eye. Turning quickly, he caught a glimpse of a long shadow slinking around the corner. Without a moment's hesitation he darted after it, rounding the corner quickly in order to keep up with his target.

The shadow moved quickly down the empty streets, seemingly unaware that Jack was in pursuit. Just as he was closing in on it, the _thing_ made a sharp turn into another alley, causing a monstrous crash which was followed by a pained cry.

Jack slowed himself before approaching the opening of the alley. He crept quietly along the wall of a building, getting closer to the sounds of the struggle. A low growl, something tearing, a muffled snort. Jack edged closer to the corner and peered carefully into the darkness, he felt his eyes widen as he watch as a large black shadow toss a small figure clad in green, into the air and _swallow it_!?

With a gasp Jack stepped back, scattering some discarded cans,-a Nightmare! What was a Nightmare doing here? Pitch had been defeated!He had, hadn't he?

The black horse snapped its head in his direction, having been alerted by the sound of the cans. It locked its glowing yellow eyes on Jack's blue ones.

Jack cursed himself silently and tightened his grip on his staff before taking off. He was out of the alley and flying down the empty streets before he even knew it. A quick glance behind him only confirmed what he had already suspected; the horse was following and it was already gaining on him. Jack pushed himself faster, zigzagging through the streets, trying to shake the black horse, at least long enough so that he'd be able to come up with a better idea.

He suddenly found himself facing a dead-end, somehow in his rush to get away from the dark creature behind him, he had successfully managed to trap himself. _Oh_ _Great! I'm an idiot!_ he rebuked himself. Raising his staff, Jack turned to face the evil horse-if it were possible the thing looked even bigger and more menacing up close. Jack narrowed his eyes at it,

"Alright you overgrown rocking-horse, you wana fight?" He pointed his staff toward the horse, which raised itself on its hind legs and threw it head back with a piercing whinny. Jack flinched at the sound but sent a shot of ice at it, the blast hit its mouth directly, effectively shutting it up. The Nightmare dropped back to all fours in surprise, Jack couldn't help but laugh,

"Hah! What's the matter horsey, don't like the cold?" he teased.  
The horse, having recovered from shock, looked even more angry than before, its yellow eyes glaring dangerously at the winter spirit. Suddenly, he black sand started shifting, readjusting itself and seeming to expand, changing the shape from a horse of normal stature to that of a beast three times as large.

"Well," Jack said lowly, gaping up at the giant horse that now towered over him "...that's...new."

With a loud roar the horse threw itself forward, barreling towards the young spirit, like a freight train on the loose. Luckily, Jack had speed and agility on his side, he easily jumped to the side and sent another blast of ice at the creature's feet. The ice instantly froze the horse to the ground, allowing him to hurry out of the alley and down the street.

After a few moments Jack allowed himself to look back over his shoulder, the horse wasn't behind him, maybe it had given up?

All thoughts of the black horse left his mind when a bright flash of light caught his attention. Turning his head, Jack felt his eyes widen and tried to stop himself all too late. He collided with something big and heavy, sending him tumbling towards the ground, his staff knocked from his grasp. Jack landed heavily on his stomach, the impact knocking the air out of him. As his vision returned to normal, the winter spirit vaguely heard voices arguing around him,

"Oh, what was that?"  
"You hear something?"  
"Ay! ya hurry up and land this thing!"

With a frustrated groan, Jack pushed himself off the ground and scooped up his staff.

"There! You heard that, right?"  
Spoke a female voice in a quick, neurotic pace.

"Quit talkin' ya nonesense-"

"Nothing is there, what are talkin-"

"Hey!" Yelled Jack irritably, glaring around the darkness, trying to find the source of the bickering.

"Who said that! Show yourself!" A loud, booming voice demanded from above- above? Jack craned his neck upwards and was met with the sight of the giant red sleigh floating about thirteen feet off the ground.

"Figures..." the spirit mutter,

"I won't ask again! Show yourself." The loud voice demanded again.

"Down here!" He called, rolling his eyes, the Guardians were so clueless sometimes. Jack watched as the beard covered face of North peered over the sleigh's edge, followed by the green head of Tooth, and last but not least Bunnymund, who looked like he was about to be sick.

"Aha! Jack. Precisely the person we wanted to see" North commented joyfully, completely dismissing the fact that his sleigh had just plowed into the winter spirit.  
"What are you doing down there?" He asked as the sleigh began to float down gently.

"Oh you know, crashing into magic floating sleighs is a part time hobby of mine."

"What? That sounds dangerous! you could get hurt. Or worse you could lose a tooth" Tooth flew down next to Jack in an instant  
"Oh no, the teeth! Are they okay? Tell me you didn't break them!?" She had her fingers prying his mouth open before he could even answer.

"Ooth, agh! Touh staapp!"

"Tooth! Take ya fingers outta there, you don' know where 'es been." Thankfully Bunnymund had decided to intervene, despite his comment.

Tooth retracted her hands immediately and smiled sheepishly.  
"Sorry, you know how I get if teeth are put in danger!" She flew back to her little cloud of fairies muttering instructions a hundred words per second.

Jack laughed slightly and rolled his eyes, turning to North,  
"So, why are you all here? And why did you say you wanted to see to me?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes. There is something going on we-

where's Sandy?" asked the big Russian, easily distracted.

"He should be here by now...ah! There he is!" as if on cue Sandy floated down on a glittering gold cloud, waving as he made his descent.

"Anyway, as was saying, it look like there's trouble again."

Jack's mind flashed back to the last time there had been 'trouble.' He remembered how terrible that had almost ended. How he had all but failed the Guardians, the fact that they had been lucky to defeat Pitch

_Pitch_! His thoughts suddenly went back to the Nightmare in the alley, could Pitch be back?  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're saying something's wrong? Already?"

"that's kinda tha definition of trouble..." he heard Bunnymund mumble.

"Yes, it seems so" North said,

"Is it Pitch? Is he back?" Jack felt dread starting to build up inside him, defeating Pitch last time hadn't been easy, and it almost ended in disaster.

"Eh...we are not so sure. It seems very possible." North admitted with a shrug.

"How can you not be sure?" Jack asked loudly, flabbergasted at how the Guardians didn't know what was going on. He quickly tried to come up with a plan to defeat the Nightmare King,

"If it is Pitch, we'll just bust him like last time. He can't be too strong right now-"

"Its not that simple, Jack" Tooth fluttered around, "we don't know if its Pitch because well... things are different this time."

"Different," he echoed  
"how?"

Bunny rolled his eyes

"Spirits 'ave been disappearing. One moment they're 'ere, tha next they're gone. Poof. disappeared withoutta trace."

"Yes," North nodded solemnly. "it started with Sam Haine, the Spirit of Halloween, then Aurora, the Spirit of the Dawn, a few others too." he said gravely, something so uncharacteristic of him.

"And, few hours ago we received word of Leprechaun in distress, he ask us to come help."

"...The leprechaun..." Jack looked at his hand, realizing wit a start that the piece of green cloth was still clutched tightly between his fingers.

"This wouldn't happen to belong to him, would it." He held up the little piece of glowing green fabric. Tooth flew up to it, inspecting the cloth closely,

"Yes that's his!" She exclaimed after a few seconds. "Where did you find it?"

"I found it in an alley aft-."

North looked at him, "did you see Leprechaun?"

"Well, no but-"

"Whadaya' mean 'no'?" Bunny interrupted.

"I mean, as in 'no' I didn't see the Leprechaun," Jack snapped, his patience quickly thinning.  
"At least not by himself"  
Taking a deep breath, Jack recounted his story to the other Guardians,

"I was just standing around when I heard something in an alley so I checked it out, I found the green cloth there but nothing else, I was gonna leave but then I saw a shadow, so I followed it and when I did catch up with it, it turned out to be a Nightmare and it swallowed something, which I'm guessing was the Leprechaun, which is really gross if you ask me, but anyways, it saw me and then it started chasing me. I had just gotten away when I bumped into you guys. Literally."

The other Guardians stared at him, mouths agape, Sandy with a confused look on his face. They where still processing what Jack had said in his very long sentence. Finally Tooth spoke up, breaking the silence,

"So...the Leprechaun has been taken-...swallowed-by a Nightmare?"

"But...how can this be?" North asked, truly at a loss for words.  
"Pitch was defeated, he is weak. He has no power, he could not have control of Nightmares so quickly."

"But then how do you explain the Nightmare? And the Spirits disappearing?" Jack questioned, trying to think of anyone else who could be responsible for what was happening, and coming up with nothing.  
"I mean who else can be controlling Nightmares?"

"Ay, Frostbite's got a point. There's no otha explanation."

Sandy nodded in agreement, he too couldn't think of anyone else. North sighed and ran a hand through his beard,

"We must not jump to conclusions, although it does seem too much for it not to be Pitch."

Suddenly getting an idea, North threw his arms open,  
"We must go back to the Pole and think of plan!"

With that he turned and walked back to his sleigh. Not really looking if the others were following. Bunnymund instantly protested,

"There's no way I'm gettin' back on that thing!"

Jack laughed the rabbit's discomfort,

"C'mon Cottontail, its not so bad."  
Bunnymund snorted,  
"Maybe you 'ave a death wish, but I certainly don'!"

"No more arguing! We get to the Pole now!"  
Without further encouragement from the Guardian of Wonder, Tooth flew into the sleigh, Jack smirked at Bunny one last time before jumping in, Sandy had already seated himself quietly, everyone was waiting for Bunny.

"Ahh, Bunny, why must we do this every time? Hurry up, get in, no other way fast enough"

"Uh- I really think ma tunne-NO! Not again, NORTH!" The poor rabbit didn't even have a chance to get away before North grabbed him by the back and quickly tossed him into the sleigh. Wasting no more time, he snapped the reins and the sleigh jerked into the sky, flying through a bright portal as Bunny's yells and curses were followed by Jack's hysterical laughter.

Back in a dark alley, a shadowed figure watched the Guardians leave. A malicious grin fell upon the figure's face, they had absolutely no idea what was in store for them, this will be fun.

"Good luck finding a way out of this one, Guardians."

And with that the figure disappeared, leaving the quiet town of Burgess behind.


	2. Pocket-Globe

**Hey Guys! Sorry I took so long in posting, but I got severely sidetracked and what not. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please review and tell me if anyone is OC. I hope the beginning isn't too complicated. Its probably the only scene like this. Thanks I'd really like to know if they are. Enjoy! :D**

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"What do you think he's planning?" The pale man asked the woman who was crouched in the cell opposite to his. They were in a dark place made out of stone as black as tar. The air was stale and uncomfortably humid.

"Who knows." She answered while she tried to find a weak spot in her cell to break open.  
"whatever it is, you can bet your lucky stars its no good."

The pale man growled low in his throat,

"Whoever this idiot is, he really thinks he can get away with this! Well, when I get out of this I'l-"

the threat was cut short with a terribly loud grinding noise; the sound of heavy stone being dragged across the floor. It was quiet for a moment, both captives waiting to see what would come next.

A large black shadow darted around the corner at the far end of the long stone hall. Its outline barely visible, the only thing that helped separate the creature from the darkness was the faint green glow coming from inside it.

The shadow sped down the hall, past those in the cells, and disappeared into the thick darkness up ahead. The captives in the cells were very still, a few moments later, the silence was broken by the clicking sound of footsteps,

"What was that you were saying, Hain? Once you get out of here you'll do what?" A low, chilling voice called out from the shadows.

The pale man in the cell,Sam Hain, clenched his jaw,  
"As soon as I get out of here I'm going to use you as a practice dummy, and by the time I done with you there won't be much left!"

"I wouldn't count on getting out of here anytime soon." The low voice sounded almost teasing.

That only made Sam Hain even angrier,

"You better let us out now, or-"

"Or what? What can you possibly do to stop me?" The speaker sounded very pleased.  
"No one can stop me! Even those stupid _Guardians_ don't stand a chance against me!"

Sam Hain was livid, he could think of a thousand things to say to the patronizing voice, but he stayed quiet, simmering in his anger instead.

"You'll all be here for a _very_ long time. There is no getting out of this for any of you, no one will ever find you. So I suggest you _stop trying to escape_!"

The last part was directed to the woman in the opposite cell who had wrapped her hands around the stone bars in an attempt to break them apart. She pointedly ignored the voice and kept pulling until a strong, hard foot connected with her hands. With a yell she fell back, hands throbbing with pain.

She glared daggers at her attacker,

"Who the hell are you to think you can get away with this! You better let me out, its going to be dawn soon!" She said viciously.

The owner of the voice stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, unnaturally so, his limbs grotesquely elongated and thin, his skin was a sickly yellow, eyes as red as bloody rubies, with sideways slitted pupils. His nose was crushed in like a bat's, his ears pointed up like antennae. The over all effect was terrifying and repulsive.

"I am Envisus. Spirit of Jealously and soon to be ruler of this pathetic world."

Back at the North Pole, the Guardians gathered around in the Globe room. Jack watched with silent amusement as the elves scurried here and there, pushing and shoving each other out of the way. Raising his staff, Jack aimed a blast of ice in the elves' general direction to send them slipping and sliding across the floor, _or maybe freeze them in place? or freeze them together __**while**__ sending them slipp_-

"Ay, Snowflake are ya even listenin'?"

Bunnymund's annoyed voice broke Jack's concentration at the last minute, sending the blast of ice off course and crashing throughout the room. North dove out of the way, into a pile of discarded stockings, Tooth ducked down with a yelp, Sandy flew behind the globe, Bunny flattened himself against the floor. The ice finally froze onto a toy plane which had been flying overhead, sending it to the ground with a crash. The Guardians looked around wide-eyed, their gaze finally settling on the winter spirit, who chuckled nervously,

"uhmm...that wasn't supposed to happen?..." he offered lamely.

"Wha' was tha' for Snowcone? Are ya tryin' ta freeze our tails off?" Bunny asked angrily as he picked himself up off the floor.

"Hey! It was an accident! Maybe if you hadn't distracted me-"

"'Distracted' ya? Ya weren't even payin' attention in tha first place!"

"Alright, alright! We go back to important discussion, now!" North decided to step in before the two could really get into the argument. With one last glare at Bunny, Jack turned his attention back to the others.

"So what was going on?" he asked.

"Well, like I was saying, it looks like spirits all over are going missing." Tooth began,

"So far there's been seven reported missing and three more distress calls, including the one from the Leprechaun."

"Yes, the spirit of dawn, the spirit of Halloween, a couple of fall spirits, Cupid, and Leprechaun, have gone missing." North stated while he rubbed his chin.

Jack stared at the Guardians, not really following their discussion, he was stuck on one thing,

"How do you get these 'distress' calls?" when the other Guardians looked at him in confusion, he added "I mean, how do you know when another Spirit is in trouble?"

"Is very simple, we use this."

Jack watched as North dug through his pockets, eventually pulling out a small globe, it was almost like the giant one in front of them, but the miniature globe was dark, and had no glowing lights of the children. Jack stared at it for a second,

"Uh...a pocket-globe?" he said, not understanding what he was seeing. North laughed,

"Is a distress signal receiver. Like ah- help button. Whenever Spirit in trouble, they call 'pocket-globe'." he explained. Upon seeing Jack's still confused expression, Bunnymund rolled his eyes and elaborated,

"There ar' certain ways to send a signal, Frost. All Spirits know about them."

Jack looked at the Pooka questionably, _all Spirits have one_?

"Oh." he finally managed, his hand tightening unconsciously around his staff. He had to really try and stop himself from saying what he was really thinking, _I don't, I didn't even know about the pocket-globe..._ It seemed silly, but Jack suddenly felt like he was even more clueless and left out of the loop than he had originally thought. The Guardians, seeming not to notice Jack's hesitance, went on discussing possibilities,

"Ok, so we know Sam Hain wen' missin' in Lithuania, three days ago. Tha fall spirits disappeared last week, Cupid's signal was five days ago, Aurora 'as been gone since las' night and tha Leprechaun was taken about an 'our ago." Bunnymund summarized, "What otha information do we 'ave?"

"The Nightmares." Jack stated, remembering his closer encounter with the creature just moments before. "It was a Nightmare that took the Leprechaun."

"Maybe there's a pack of lose Nightmares who are just attacking the Spirits they find." Tooth offered, trying to find a slightly more positive explanation. Sandy shook his head, sand figures flashing above him in a fast succession. Jack tried to follow what the little gold man was trying to tell them, but failed miserably. Luckily North translated,

"Sandy is right, this too organized to be just Nightmares. Someone is telling them what to do."

"So wha' are ya sayin' mate? Ya think this could be Pitch?" Bunny looked very serious. Jack felt a dread building up inside him. North shook his head with a big sigh,

"Not sure, could be Boogeyman. But he is too weak, I don't know how he could. We ask anyway."

"Ask?" Jack felt his jaw drop. They were seriously just going to _ask_ Pitch if he was responsible for what had been going on? He thought that was about as effective as asking a criminal if he was guilty. Apparently he wasn't the only one who thought so,

"Really? North, are you sure?" Tooth asked hesitantly, North just shrugged.

"Pitch not so strong right now, we ask, if he is guilty we stop him." It sounded like a simple plan, but Jack still felt a little apprehensive about it.

"We hurry, have to stop Pitch, if it is him-" North's words were cut off by an urgent beeping. Jack jumped at the sudden noise, it was the pocket-globe. North inspected it quickly.

"Who is it now mate?" Bunny asked with a slightly concerned look. Jack moved closer to look at the small globe, a red light was blinking rapidly in the northern corner of North America.

"Who is it?" he asked,

"Look closer." North shoved the pocket-globe closer to Jack's face. That close up, Jack could see it wasn't just a light, it was a capitalized G that was blinking. He thought for a second, _G_...G?...**G!**

"The Groundhog." he stated, looking at North who nodded his head.

"Yes, Very good!" The Guardian of Wonder boomed.

"Oh, bloody great..." Bunny muttered. Jack smirked, the giant rabbit sure didn't like that Groundhog.

"We must go now, hurry, help Groundhog. Everyone into sleigh!" North was already halfway out of the room, yelling orders for his Yetis to take care of things while he was gone.

"I sa' we jus' let tha Groundhog get taken, wouldn't make a big difference" Bunny protested

"Bunny!" Tooth scolded the giant rabbit. Jack chuckled as he watched them continue to argue, though he was lagging in the back of the group, worry crawling its way into his mind. Jack felt a gentle nudge on his hand, he looked down to see Sandy standing at his side with a reassuring smile. Quick sand images appeared over his head. Jack didn't catch much of it, but he smiled at the little golden man.

"Thanks Sandy! Let's go save the Groundhog." with that they both hurried to catch up with the rest of the Guardians.

They were flying above the Atlantic when they first saw the shadow moving quickly below.

"There!" Tooth exclaimed, pointing at the dark blur as it zigzagged ahead of them. North jerked the sleigh in the shadow's direction, earning a yelp from Bunny and a laugh from Jack. The sleigh lowered until it was just a few feet above the water, the Guardians watched the shadow closely, a Nightmare. The coast was quickly coming up, that was obviously the dark horse's target.

"Where's it going?" Jack asked, his eyes never leaving the thing below them.

"'ho cares! S'long that its on land!" Bunnymund was clutching the sides of the sleigh tightly, trying to keep his gaze focused on the fast approaching land. The shadow suddenly surged forward, disappearing in the trees, forcing North to pull the sleigh upwards. They flew in hot pursuit of the Nightmare, following it as well as they could from above the treeline. North pulled out the pocket-globe and tossed it back to Jack, who barely managed to catch it.

"Tell me where Groundhog is." North instructed. Jack studied the small globe a little,

"Keep going straight, I bet you the Groundhog is wherever that is," he said indicating to the Nightmare.

Said horse took a sharp turn to the left, North jerked the sleigh in that direction and-

They were surrounded by white. Jack blinked, what?...white, on all sides; left, right, up, down, everywhere. He realized vaguely that they were in a cloud.

"North! Wha' 'appened to tha bloody sky?!" Bunny's panicked cry snapped Jack out of his thoughts.

"Oh relax Cottontail, we're just in a cloud."

"A cloud! A cloud!?" Bunny's eyes were ridiculously wide, Jack laughed at the rabbit's terrified face.

"What are ya laughin' at Frost! Clouds are dangerous, planes ge' lost in clouds all the time!" if it were possible Jack laughed even harder, clutching his side with his free hand. Before he could even get himself together, they burst out of the blinding white back into the regular blue of the sky.

"Where's the Nightmare?" Tooth asked urgently, the dark horse was nowhere in sight. Jack looked at the pocket-globe in his hand, the red G was blinking even more rapidly than before. Something was off, Jack felt it. He looked around, something looked familiar... with a gasp, the winter spirit was hit with the realization,

"We're in Burgess!"

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**Well there you go guys. Sooo...yeah...review? please? **

**I hope you like it, again please tell me if anyone's OC. And don't worry the real story will start soon. Thanks for putting up with the wait. And sadly its probably gonna be like that for every update. Truly sorry about that.**

**Did I mention review?**


	3. The Groundhog

**Oh jeezguys...-_- I realized that i uploaded the wrong document and nearly freaked when i thought I had lost my real chapter. I'm sorry for that, but heres the real thing and I hope you like it**

**Hi guys! Jeez i'm so sorry this took so long to update. I've been swamped with work from school and I haven't been able to get any time to work on this for a long time. Ugh.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I apologize in advance if my updates are slow for the rest of the month. **

**Enjoy :)**

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Jack was out of the sleigh before he even finished his statement. Burgess! How had he not realized it before! He could tell by the others expressions that they were thinking the same thing.

"Jack! Back in sleigh!"

Said Winter Spirit ignored the command and flew to the nearest telephone pole, looking down the streets trying to find the Nightmare again.

"Guys, over there!" He pointed toward the treeline where the Nightmare had just disappeared. Without even looking to see if the Guardians were following, Jack lunged after the horse.

He flew as quickly as possible, dodging branches and zipping around trunks. The Nightmare was down below weaving its way through the forest, leaving tendrils of dark sand in its wake, _where are you going?_ Jack thought as he picked up speed.

The trees seemed to stop abruptly, leaving Jack in a clearing. There was the Nightmare, but it wasn't alone; three others had joined it, and they were all gathered around something. _Not something, _he realized with a start, _The Groundhog!_

"Oh no you don't." he whispered.

Jack sent a wave of ice towards the Nightmares, successfully getting their attention. They looked their feral yellow eyes onto the winter spirit. One instantly launched itself at Jack, who sent another blast of ice at the horse before jumping to the side. The Nightmare broke to a stop, shaking its head vigorously to get rid of the ice that clung to its eyes and neck. Jack couldn't help the chuckle that bubbled out, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Hey! why don't you stop messing around over there and help me out!"

The panicked yet annoyed voice brought Jack back to the situation at hand. He turned to see a brown blur dashing between the legs and snapping mouths of the Nightmares. He grinned,

"Groundy! How have you been?"

"Quit foolin' around you miserable icicle!" Jack ignored the insult and rolled his eyes,

"That's not a very nice way of asking for help."

But he was already moving, aiming a shot of ice to the Nightmares. It was incredibly hard to know what he was aiming at, the dark horses were constantly thrashing around and chasing the Groundhog. There was not much time to aim properly either, first Nightmare that attacked had recovered and was coming towards him. With a shrug Jack let the blast go, hoping that it would hit the right target. The blast of ice crashed to the ground, mere inches from the Groundhog's fuzzy form,

"What are you doing?! you're supposed to be aiming for the horses not me!"

"Oops! Aim was off."

Frustration filled Jack as he aimed another blast at the Nightmare coming from the side, sending it back a few feet. Jack jumped to the air and flew above the horses attacking the giant rat-like Groundhog. He sent shots of ice toward them, catching one Nightmare straight on its hindquarters. The beast reared up with a screeching whinny. _Well that certainly had to hurt_, Jack thought before sending more ice shards at the Nightmares. The horses turned away from the Groundhog for a moment, that was all he needed.

"Groundy go!"

With a quick glare at the winter spirit, the Groundhog took off at a staggering run, he had clearly been injured. The Nightmares, seeming to notice their escaping prey, turned back to the giant rat. Jack surged down, staff aimed straight at one horse. He swung his staff, slicing straight through the sand creature's neck, it dissolved into a pile of black dust, _ugh that's gross._ something heavy slammed straight into his side, sending him crashing to the ground harshly.

Jack shook his head as he scrambled to get to his feet, he cursed himself when he found that his staff wasn't in his hand anymore. He cursed himself even more when a large shadow fell over him, he already knew it was a Nightmare. Looking up only confirmed that.

The black horse pawed at the ground like and angry bull ready to charge, Jack narrowed his eyes and readied himself, just because he didn't have his staff didn't mean he was going to let himself be run down by a giant horse. The Nightmare charged suddenly, Jack waited until the last possible moment to jump out of the way. Jack tumbled to the side while the horse's momentum carried it forward and straight into a tree, where it exploded into powdery sand.

Jack got to his feet and looked around, his staff was lying a few feet away and the Groundhog was being chased by the remaining Nightmares. Scooping his staff up, Jack was about to send a few more blasts of ice toward the horses, when a boomerang sliced through the air above the Nightmare's head.

"Finally." He breathed in relief.

With the Nightmares temporarily distracted the Groundhog scampered back, trying to get away as fast as possible. The horses launched themselves at the fast descending sleigh, the Guardians jumped out weapons drawn, ready to fight in an instant. As the Nightmares kept the others busy, Jack turned to see a fifth shadow quickly slinking its way out of the forest, heading straight for the Groundhog.

The winter spirit jumped into action, sweeping his staff upwards, sending a blast of power that turned into a wall of ice, separating the Nightmare from the fuzzy being. Flying to the Groundhog with incredible speed, Jack managed to grab the giant rat by his neck and hoist him into the air just as the ice-wall shattered into hundreds of deadly shards.

"Whoa, Watch it!" the fuzzy creature yelped as Jack's tossed him a little to get a better grip.

"Ugh-Sorry! You're-ah-heavy!" Jack struggled to fly higher with the giant rat clutched in his hand. It was bad enough the creature was more than half as tall as he was, but the Groundhog was just as heavy as his height suggested. Jack dipped and rose in the air, trying to avoid crashing onto the ground while trying to get away from the Nightmare that was now following him.

He heard a sharp whinny behind him followed by a puff. Looking over his shoulder Jack saw that the Nightmare had turned into dust-

-and a boomerang speeding towards him! With a startled yelp, Jack let himself drop, just narrowly avoiding the flying projectile. He tried to regain his altitude, but the with the combined weight of himself and the Groundhog, staying in the air was not possible.

They landed in a heap, and Jack realized, much to his dislike, that he had fallen more in the past 24 hours than he had in the last year. _At least I didn't drop my staff again, _he thought as he got to his feet, wiping the dust off his pants.

"Aye mate, mind not getting' in tha way of ma boomerangs next time?" The giant kangaroo said, walking up to Jack and the Groundhog.

"Do you mind aiming a little better next time, cottontail?" the winter spirit narrowed his eyes at the rabbit.

"You're one to talk about aim. You almost froze me solid!" the Groundhog yelled angrily. "The most irresponsible..." he muttered.

"For once in ma life I agree with the Groundhog." Bunnymund smirked, folding his arms over his chest. Jack scowled, he opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a peppy voice,

"Groundhog! It's good to see you, how are your teeth, are you OK? What did those Nightmares want with you-"

"Tooth, Tooth, one question at a time." North said gently, holding one hand up to stop the Tooth Fairy. She smiled sheepishly and calmed down a bit. The Guardian of Wonder turned to the Groundhog,

"Could you tell us why the Nightmares were chasing you?" he asked, the Groundhog shuddered.

"Those things came outta nowhere. I was just minding my own business when suddenly, I'm surrounded!" The fuzzy creature was clearly indignant about having been ambushed.

"I'm lucky this idiot showed up when he did," the Groundhog jerked his finger back towards Jack, who grinned widely.

"Aww-Is that a sign of gratitude, Groundy?" The winter spirit chuckled when the giant rat narrowed its eyes menacingly,

"Don't call me that, you-you Popsicle!" Jack laughed at the Groundhog's pathetic try at an offensive nickname.

"Focus Groundhog, just ignore him." Bunny snapped, Jack rolled his eyes and turned away from the Guardians who had started to interrogate the Groundhog. He tried to ignore Bunny's statement, _just ignore him..._

Jack shook his head, _he didn't mean it like that, _it was hard not to think that way, after being alone for three hundred years, of course his way of thinking wasn't going to change in a short time_._ He pushed those thoughts out of his head and swept his eyes across the clearing in front of him. The ground was covered by a light layer of snow, and it glittered gently in the fading sunlight, like thousands of tiny diamonds. Jack hadn't even realized that the sun had been setting.

He stood there watching as the dying rays of light filtered through the trees, it would be night soon. Night, the loneliest and loveliest time of the day, it was the time that Jack had long ago learned to love and hate at the same time.

Except for the sound of the Guardians talking behind him, it almost felt like he was alone, as if nothing had changed. Jack shook his head again,_ just stop thinking and enjoy the sight_. He tried to salvage whatever was left of his good mood by thinking of different ways to annoy the Groundhog; maybe send him flying into a snowbank? Or slick freeze his fur to a tree-

He saw a shift of movement out of the corner of his eyes, and whipped his head to see. The woods were quiet and still, Jack raised his staff and narrowed his eyes, just in case something - particularly a Nightmare - decided to jump out and attack.

After a moment, when nothing stirred, Jack lowered his staff and looked back at the Guardians, they didn't seem to have noticed the movement.

Turning back to the woods, Jack managed to catch sight of a tendril of darkness slither behind a tree. He gasped, as he saw a mass of shadows congealing into one big form.

"Guys!" he called to the others without turning around, his eyes never leaving the solidifying figure. The Guardians turned their attention to the winter spirit, who pointed his staff over to the treeline,

"Over there, behind that tree, there's something there."

"Not something, some_one_." North ground out through gritted teeth, rushing up to where Jack stood, he had drawn his twin swords, Bunny had his boomerangs ready, and Tooth had her needle-like blades drawn. The Groundhog was shoved behind them.

"What's-" he protested. Tooth shh-ed him.

Jack raised his staff and watched as the shadows melted off, revealing the person behind them,

"_Pitch._" North growled.

The boogeyman glared at the Guardians through glowing yellow eyes, a contemptuous sneer on his face.

"Well, well if it isn't my favorite group of heroes." Pitch spit out.

"You ain't pleasant ta look at eitha'" Bunny quipped. North took a step forward, his swords ready to slice anything, just in case.

"Pitch! What is meaning of this, sending your Nightmares to steal the spirits of the world." Jumping straight to the point North didn't want to waste any time, in case another spirit was in trouble. The boogeyman narrowed his gleaming eyes,

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb Pitch! We know that you're sending your Nightmares out to do your dirty work." Tooth sounded about as vicious as Jack had ever heard her, and he had to admit that it was a little scary.

Pitch's hands clenched into fists,

"Those blasted abominations wouldn't listen to me now, and if they did I would more than happily destroy them all!"

The Guardians looked at each other, unsure of whether to believe Pitch or not. Jack observed the boogeyman, his skin was grayer than last time, and he was slightly hunched over, leaning on the tree for support,

"You're weak."

The words were out of his mouth before he even had time to register what he saying. The other Guardians looked at the him, Pitch glared. Jack shifted uncomfortably, not used to having all eyes on him,

"I mean, look at him, the Nightmares obviously won't listen to him..." Finally the Guardians shifted their gaze at the boogeyman, inspecting him closer. Said spirit's eyes looked absolutely livid, but his physical strength still failed him and he continued to lean against the tree.

"If you're not commanding Nightmares, what are you doing here?" North demanded, lowering his swords. Pitch shifted his glare to the big Russian,

"I was in my lair when I heard those infernal creatures, and fighting. I may have little power, but I still enjoy watching fights. The fear, no matter how small, is absolutely delicious."

Jack could have gone his whole life without that last little detail.

"So if it aint ya, then who is doin' this?" Bunny asked, getting a little more than annoyed at the fact that they were really going nowhere. Pitch laughed,

"And you call yourselves _Guardians. _You can't even figure this out." Jack leveled his staff him,

"Do you know who's doing this?" he asked forcefully, the boogeyman sneered at the winter child.

"Isn't it your job to know what's happening in the world?"

North was about to say something when a piercing whinny cut off his words, followed by a shout of surprise. The Guardians whirled around to see a couple of Nightmares attack the Groundhog, they had almost forgotten about the giant rat.

"Groundhog!" North launched himself forward, swords ready to slice through the sand horses.

Jack shot a blast of ice, Bunny threw his boomerangs, Tooth launched a knife at the horses. The Nightmares dodged the attacks and turned, surging for the woods. Jack stared in confusion for a moment, then realized one of the Nightmares had gotten a hold of the Groundhog and was now leaving.

The other Guardians must have figured it out before him, they were already in the sleigh, North yelled down to Jack,

"Stay with Pitch, make sure he goes nowhere. We still have questions, and he has answers!"

Jack stared, _stay with Pitch_?

"Stay with Pitch?" he asked incredulously, the sleigh was high in the air,

"Yes. He is weak now so he can't try anything. Just make sure he does not go away!"

Jack opened his mouth to protest, but the sleigh was already zooming away, leaving him alone with the boogeyman._ That's not fair,_ he scowled,_ why do I have to babysit? _He turned to Pitch, who looked slightly amused at the winter spirit's misfortune. Jack stared blankly at him, he was alone with the boogeyman, last time that had happened it didn't end well. In fact it had ended disastrously, Jack groaned.

_I hope the Guardians know what they're doing._

* * *

**Well there is that chapter. Again I'm sorry I took so long. I have a lot of schoolwork and the attention span of a mouse. Sometimes I'm thinking of how to write a scene and I somehow end up thinking that I already wrote it. Yeah... I don't know why I told you that but yeah. **

**Review please!**


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